Aggressive A's steal victory from Nationals
A's create five runs with hustle to support strong pitching by Kennedy and Breidinger
On NASCAR day in Sonoma, the A's got their motors running on the bases to pull out a 7-4 comeback victory over the Nationals.
The A's tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth and scored four times in the ninth with speed and hustle playing a role in virtually every run the A's scored. Brodie Nissen led off the eighth with a double, scampering into second to beat the throw. He advanced to third on a fielder's choice grounder by Kevin Metcalfe, who enabled Nissen to score by distracting the pitcher with a two-out, two-strike steal attempt that helped create a wild pitch.
"That pitcher showed good control the whole game so I have to think that Kevin distracted him a bit," Nissen said of Metcalfe, who took off as soon as Adam Bruch became set, trying to force a play.
Similar scrappy play enabled the A's to break the tie with Ryan Metcalfe reaching first on a disputed infield single. He was originally called out, but the home plate umpire ruled Bruch failed to touch the bag while receiving the throw on the slow chopper. Clinton Yeager came in to run and stole second and third then scored on an infield single by Billy Dodson, who barely beat out a weak roller to third.
Mike Mastro' followed with a single to left and Nissen gave the A's some breathing room by taking a two-strike curveball to right for a two-run single that scored Dodson and Mastro'. Keith Lederer capped the rally with an RBI single that made the lead 7-3.
The Nationals scored one run in the ninth, but Jon Breidinger battled out of trouble with a strikeout and a double play grounder to Dodson, who made up for an earlier miscue by starting the game-ending DP.
Dodson's error in the sixth accounted for all three Nationals runs scored off Kevin Kennedy. The Nationals ended a string of 13 straight outs with a single in the hole a third and a bunt before inducing a grounder to Dodson that he tried to turn too quickly. Brian Miller followed with a two-out, two-strike double to right that gave the Nationals a 3-2 lead.
Kennedy and Adam Bruch were locked in a pitcher's duel with Bruch retiring all 10 A's the first time through the lineup and getting the only hit out of the infield against Kennedy the first two times through the Nationals' lineup, a leadoff single up the middle.
"This was one of the best close games I've played in," Kennedy said.
The A's scored two runs in the fourth after walks set the table for a first-and third situation. Dodson drew a throw to first with a big lead, allowing Yeager to score on the wild throw and scored on a single by Breidinger that gave the A's a 2-0 lead.
Brodie Nissen was the only A's player to get two hits, doubling and scoring in the eighth to tie the game and hitting a two-run single in the ninth to give the A's a 6-3 lead.
Jon Breidinger had his best control of the season, allow no walks and just one run in the final three innings to pick up the victory in relief of Kevin Kennedy, who also yielded no walks.
Kevin Kennedy was as sharp as any pitcher, retiring 13 straight batters and 18 straight batters failed to get a hit.
Mike Mastro' killed a bat, but it died a hero, hitting a soft liner to left to keep the A's four-run rally in the ninth alive.
Nissen- MVP
